Tyler Perry Discusses New Documentary and SAG-AFTRA Strike on ‘CBS Mornings’ | Watch

*Media mogul Tyler Perry appeared on “CBS Mornings” on Tuesday to discuss his new documentary “Maxine’s Baby” and the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike.

Perry said a camera crew followed him for ten years to make the documentary about his career journey, and he had no creative control. 

“It’s not a story that I’m telling … It’s my life,” Perry told the “CBS Mornings” co-hosts. “If that happens, then it was all worth it for me.”

This upcoming documentary is named after Perry’s mother, Maxine, who passed away in 2009 after a long illness. 

“Everything I did was about her. All the work was about her. I was never after money. It was always about making enough money to take care of her, to buy her medicine, to make sure we were never in poverty again,” Perry said. “No matter how much I had, it was never enough.” 

“Maxine’s Baby” is described as “a tender, intimate portrait of the writer, actor, filmmaker, studio head and media mogul.”

“Working on this film for the past decade has been a life-changing journey for the both of us. Getting intimately acquainted with the man behind the icon while witnessing the transformative impact of Mr. Perry’s work within various communities has been truly awe-inspiring,” said directors Gelila Bekele and Armani Ortiz in a joint statement. “We hope this film is more than a road to success story, but rather, a meditation on healing, unconditional love and an inspiration to audiences.”

Perry said he finds motivation from “watching all of the people who are coming into the studios, young, Black, everybody represented who has never gotten a chance in this business – that gives me the inspiration to keep going,” he explained on the daytime talk show.

Perry’s career as an actor, writer, producer, and director spans three decades, and his movies have grossed $1.5 billion at the domestic box office. In October 2019, the entertainment mogul opened Tyler Perry Studios on the site of a former 330-acre Confederate military base in Atlanta. He closed his studios to stand in solidarity with the unions amid the SAG-AFTRA actors’ strikes. 

“As we’re looking at all of this and as we’re negotiating, it is so important that [SAG-AFTRA president] Fran Drescher, [SAG-AFTRA chief negotiator] Duncan Ireland, the whole negotiating committee have done a fantastic job moving this forward … but it’s really important to know when we’ve won. This is only a three-year deal. In two years, two-and-a-half years, we’ll be renegotiating again,” Perry said. “So we have to know what have we won, and what have we won for now? That’s the thing. For now. … If I had ran my business trying to get everything at once, I wouldn’t be here. I’ve got as much as I can for now, so let’s see what we can do next.”

Watch Perry’s interview on “CBS Mornings” via the Twitter clip below.

Media mogul @tylerperry’s life is the subject of a new documentary called “Maxine’s Baby: The Tyler Perry Story,” which was directed by the mother of his son.

He shares why he hopes it inspires viewers — and how his mother was his motivation for much of his career. pic.twitter.com/inz81zTfwT

— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) November 7, 2023

READ MORE: Trailer Drops for Tyler Perry’s ‘Maxine’s Baby’ Documentary

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